It brought tears to people's eyes. It caused others to swell with pride. It moved some to extraordinary acts of courage. It provided hope to an ailing nation.
The Olympic flame had a powerful effect on Americans during its 65-day journey across the country to Salt Lake City, where Mike Eruzione led the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" hockey team in lighting the caldron at Rice-Eccles Stadium at the Feb. 8 opening ceremonies.
Some 11,500 torch runners — many famous, most average but inspiring citizens — handled the fire ignited by a ray of sunshine in Olympia, Greece, at the re-enactment of an ancient ritual dating back to 776 B.C.
The 13,500-mile relay through 46 states began Dec. 4 when the flame arrived in Atlanta, site of the last Olympics staged in the United States. Muhammad Ali, his hands shaking from Parkinson's disease, lighted the first torch on American soil, touching off the relay. The fire traveled via every means imaginable, including train, dogsled, canoe, wheelchair and stagecoach.
Some people were put off by what they deemed blatant commercialism on the part of relay sponsors Coca-Cola and Chevrolet. Animal-rights groups latched onto the event to protest the Olympic rodeo. But people mostly embraced the torch.
Emotional moments were plentiful on the circuitous route to Utah, especially when the Sept. 11 tragedies were commemorated in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York City.
President Bush gave teary-eyed Utahn Liz Howell, whose husband died in the Pentagon attack, a tender hug at the White House. World Trade Center heroes and relatives of victims held a solemn torch-passing ceremony on a ferry boat ride around the Statue of Liberty.
Thousands of people, many waving American flags, lined streets in cities nationwide for hours just to catch a glimpse of the flame or a special torchbearer.
In San Francisco, leukemia-stricken triathlete Louie Bonpua died just hours after carrying the torch.
In Utah, the relay pulled Pat West, who is allergic to almost everything, out of her Orem home for the first time in a decade. Perris Jensen carried the torch in Ephraim the day he turned 100.
The Utah leg of the relay began with an American Indian sunrise ceremony beneath Delicate Arch. About 1,100 Utahns toted the flame among boisterous crowds in 50 cities and towns. Some 50,000 people packed Washington Square for the penultimate caldron lighting the day before the 2002 Winter Games began.
And, yes, Utah Jazz star Karl Malone did eventually run with the torch — in Murray, nowhere near the desert and miles from Olympic Stadium.
—Dennis Romboy
E-MAIL: romboy@desnews.com